Even though the calendar indicates fall officially returns Sunday to the path around the Falls, frost was observed on a few roofs and cars on Monday morning’s commute to work.
Fall is a favorite time of year for many who make their homes in the area, but an early frost and the end to the growing season is not something people look forward to. This year that is particularly true for this observer, as a good portion of a great, green tomato crop is still on the vines.
The crop this year was late in ripening, but once the tomatoes started coming, they looked really good. There is more soup to make. This year’s production should easily surpass the hundred-quart mark. A normal schedule for the first killing frost could double that benchmark. We’ve heard from a few other gardeners that they also are seeing bumper tomato crops. This is a positive sign that things are looking up for the home-canning industry and that we will be able to survive a cold winter.
Speaking of things looking up, this week we are marking the five-year anniversary of the start of the 2008 downturn in the economy that significantly impacted society on multiple levels. Wisconsin seems to be lagging behind the recovery compared with other parts of the Midwest, and no one wants to take credit for that. At this point the slow, steady recovery seems solid, but there continues to be lingering effects, even on school districts.
Five years ago, job loss or apprehension about the future brought home construction to a halt. Prior to that time the school district had seen a significant amount of home and business construction within its borders. The value of existing homes was also on the rise. The district’s growth in property value helped ease the property tax burden as property tax levies were shared over expanded values. Rates per thousand dollars of property values declined for a number of years, bottoming out in December of 2008 and have been on the slight incline since that point.
A second factor in the complex formula for funding schools is the district’s enrollment. New home construction and families moving into those new homes can boost the district’s enrollment. The official count in January of 2008 was 1,988 students, and it has never been that high since.
Perhaps families were not building new houses and moving into the district. Perhaps families were moving out of the district because of economic conditions. Perhaps families were putting off having children or choosing to have fewer children. Regardless of the reason, student enrollment began to dip after that 2008 downturn.
Another effect on the district had to do with interest rates. At this time of year the district gets bids from financial institutions to borrow operating funds for the year.
Five years ago as the economy tanked, the district was fortunate to get one bid for short-term borrowing. Financial institutions were very skeptical about doing anything with their money. In the week or two after the district secured operating funding in 2008, a number of other districts were in crisis because they were not able to secure any proposals for short-term borrowing. We got in just under the wire.
Another negative effect of the downturn was interest on the district’s investments went off the cliff, with very little return. The flip side is that interest for borrowing funds also fell. This was a particular advantage, and a number of long-term construction bonds were refinanced, saving the district well over a million dollars as a result of three different refinancing efforts.
In recent months with the economy rebounding, there has been apprehension that interest rates would climb. That has happened with home mortgages. At the start of the work week, the district secured terms for its short-term borrowing, and the bids came in at less than one-half of 1 percent. This rate was even lower than the previous year and an all-time record low. This is positive for the district and may be more reflective of the confidence in public finance, since other interest rates have started to climb.
Just like we cannot accurately predict the date of that first killing frost and the end of the tomato soup-making season, we can only keep our fingers crossed about the recovery in the economy. Five years is a long time.
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